Feeding Your Child : Healthy Alternatives to Junk Food

Here are some healthy variations of sweet treats kids love (and they probably won't notice the difference):

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Grilled Banana S'Mores

Cut banana into slices. Place bananas on graham crackers. Top with a square of dark chocolate. Grill 2 minutes (on a sheet of aluminum foil) until chocolate softens. Top with another graham cracker square. Serve.

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Monkey Bars

hidden ingredients = sweet potato and carrot baby food purees! click here for recipe.

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For more delicious recipes check out The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious.

Share Your Mealtime Secrets

How do you get your children to eat? Share your creative ideas here; just leave a comment! Here are some fun ideas to get your started:

• "I have a picky eater won't even eat spaghetti sometimes. It seems if I give her the option to add 'cheese sprinkles' (aka: grated Parmesan cheese) to her spaghetti then she gobbles it right up!"
• "I serve my son's food in a special dish that has a character he likes a lot on the bottom. The food covers it up, so I tell him to find the character and he usually will make it to the bottom (eating most of his food in the process)."
• "My daughter is very reluctant to try new foods, and sometimes is in a 'mood' where she doesn't want to eat even her favorite food. To encourage her to eat I tell her she must at least try one bite of each food. If she doesn't' like a food that is fine (we don't all like everything we eat). If I serve the same item at another meal in the future she has to try it then, too (as to prevent her from eating only her favorites all the time). She usually complies and will taste things. She has even started to like things she told me she hated! My sister-in-law calls this a 'No Thank You' bite."
• "We place the place in front of our child and if he chooses to not eat then he loses the privilege of future snacks, deserts, etc until he tries his food. Sometimes he refuses to taste anything, so we place the plate in the refrigerator until he gets hungry. Then when he is hungry he gets the same plate again. If he refuses again, we put it away and when he is hungry we offer him the plate again. The longest this has gone on has been 24 hours, after which he gladly eats the food (and usually comments on how yummy it is). Kids won't starve themselves, and if they are truly hungry they will eat."

What are your secrets? Do you have something fun or clever that you do at home to promote healthy eating, trying new foods, or just eating food in general? Share your ideas!

Lazy Summer Lunches

There are only so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches you can make before everyone starts turning their noses up to them. Looking for something new to add the lunch line-up? Check out this link on Lazy Summer Lunches to see some creative ways of serving up a nutritious lunch for your kiddos (and yourself). Step outside the lunchbox and having something new today.

Menu Planning Made Easy

What is menu planning?

Planning in advance what you will be cooking in a given period of time (week, 2 weeks, month, etc).

Benefits of menu planning:

• it's efficient: you can create your grocery list from the ingredients lists of your recipes. Gone are the days of staring blankly into the pantry or frantically rummaging through the refrigerator in search of what to eat or what to shop for.
• it's budget-friendly: Less food is wasted because you buy/use only what you need.
• you can have variety: You keep track of how often you eat what, so you can plan in new dishes or family favorites.
• it's healthier: Eating at home is healthier than eating out. You know exactly what goes into your meals, and can even alter the recipes to certain health needs or caloric requirements.

Creative Meal Planning Ideas

• dedicate each night of the week to a different type of food {soup, salads, crockpot, one-dish, ethnic food, seasonal favorite, etc}
• create a theme night once a week {a great resource for ideas can be found here}

Resources for menu planning

A Basic Guide to Meal Planning - simplemom.net - all you need to do to get started

7 Tips to Simplify Meal Planning - workitmom.com - basic guidelines to helping meal-planning run smoothly in your house

Family Nights - whittakerwoman.typepad.com - fun and creative ideas for making family nights special for everyone

Menu Planning Resources & Ideas - simplemom.net

Speak Up

Did You Know?

• In today's modern world, babies are born with nearly 300 industrial chemicals in their blood?
• Many of these chemicals are associated with a range of serious diseases and conditions: cancer, autism, ADHD, learning deficits, infertility, and birth defects.
• The American government has almost no authority to protect people from even the most hazardous chemicals on the market.

Did You Also Know?

• There is something you can do about it ... and it takes less than one minute to do it.

The Kid-Safe Chemicals Act is a strong and effective law that will require the United States to regulate the use of toxic chemicals. Click here to send an email to your state legislator and implore them to support this law. Without your voice our legislators will not know that this issue matters to you, and our kids will continue to be subjected to toxins.

While you are at it, leave a comment after this post and let other MOPS moms know that you have contacted your Congressmen!

Family Nights

Here is a great resource for creating memorable family nights with your family. This mom has three children - two biological and one adopted - and is married to the worship pastor at Buckhead Church in the Atlanta suburbs.

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Check out this amazing woman's ideas and perhaps use one in the next week!

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Whittaker Woman Blog - Family Nights Archive

Veggie Time!

Do you have a child that won't touch a vegetable? A child that runs and hides when you say the v-word?

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The Green Parent has shared 15 ways to get your kids to eat vegetables. You might be surprised at what they recommend! {click here to read the article}